Topic: Council
Sarah Malega leaves Lake Worth Beach commission after nearly six years
Sarah Malega has left the Lake Worth Beach City Commission after nearly six years representing District 1, stepping down to become executive director of the Palm Beach County League of Cities.
Malega submitted her resignation Oct. 29, effective immediately, and the commission declared the seat vacant at a special meeting Nov. 2. She took office in 2021 after defeating District 1 incumbent Scott Maxwell.
The resignation set off a fast process at City Hall. Because less than six months remained before the next regular election, the city charter required the remaining commissioners to appoint a successor by majority vote, and the appointment had to be made no later than 24 hours before the qualifying period opened at noon Nov. 10. The commission filled the seat Nov. 9 with Elizabeth Smith.
Malega was introduced as the League of Cities’ new director less than an hour after she submitted her resignation. The League is the nonprofit association of the county’s municipalities.
Lake Worth Beach names Elizabeth Smith to fill District 1 seat
Lake Worth Beach has a new city commissioner. Elizabeth Smith was sworn in Monday morning to fill the District 1 seat left vacant by Sarah Malega’s resignation, and she will serve the final four months of the term.
Smith, a 27-year-old teacher, was appointed by the commission at a special meeting Monday, Nov. 9, at City Hall. City Clerk Melissa Coyne administered the oath of office. The appointment came a day before the qualifying period opened for the March 9, 2027 election, the deadline the city charter set for filling the seat.
The seat covers much of the city’s southwest section. Smith will serve until certification of the March 2027 election, and she plans to run for a full term in March.
Two candidates were considered for the appointment, Smith and Jill Karlin, according to the meeting agenda. Smith had already announced her candidacy for the March election, and Malega said she supports Smith and had been advising her.
Boca Raton school zone cameras collected $337,000 as council adopts third budget amendment
Boca Raton’s school zone speed cameras issued 5,331 notices and collected $337,000, Police Chief Phelps told the City Council in the program’s annual report on Tuesday, November 10. Three new school zones are now live in a warning period: Blue Lake Elementary, Calusa Elementary, and the Omni Middle and Spanish River High School area, each with cameras on its approaches.
The $337,000 breaks down as $67,400 to the state Department of Revenue, $10,110 to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for criminal justice standards, $40,440 to the school district, and $16,850 for the school crossing guard recruitment and retention program. The city retained $202,200 for administration of the program.
On the budget side, the council adopted Ordinance 5812, the third amendment to the fiscal year 2025-2026 budget, on a 4-0 vote. The amendment moves about $105.7 million between funds, mostly reclassifications, including shifting the retirement sustainability fund into the general fund.
Within that amendment, $960,000 moves from the General Fund to the Beautification Fund to cover costs there. Finance staff told the council the rest of the amendment is mostly money moving from fund to fund rather than new spending, apart from the beautification transfer.
Boca Raton council deadlocks 2-2 on housing authority picks and downtown parking license
The Boca Raton City Council deadlocked twice on Tuesday, November 10, leaving two items unresolved. A motion to appoint two members to the Boca Raton Housing Authority failed on a 2-2 vote, and a downtown parking license for Genmark 10 East failed by the same margin.
For the Housing Authority, the motion would have named Wendy Marcellus to the subsidized-housing seat and George Brown to the resident seat. The clerk announced the motion failed two to two, and the appointments were carried over to a future meeting, expected in two weeks. The Housing Authority oversees subsidized housing in the city, so the seats will stay open until the council can agree.
The second deadlock came on Resolution 144-2026, a renewal license that would let Genmark 10 East use three downtown parking spaces for valet service. Council members questioned whether the city is being fairly compensated for the use of public parking assets, and the motion failed on a vote of two to two, so the renewal was denied.
Not every parking item stalled. The council voted 4-0 to approve a separate revocable license for G3 Construction, letting it use two downtown parking spaces for a dumpster during a Wells Fargo Plaza remodel, at $35,040 for one year.
Boca Raton council votes 4-0 to extend Save Boca land protections to CRA property
The Boca Raton City Council voted 4-0 on Tuesday, November 10, to extend the Save Boca land protections so they now cover land owned by the Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency, including the Mizner Park area. The move means the city and the CRA cannot sell or lease CRA-owned land larger than half an acre without first winning approval from voters in a referendum.
The vote came on Resolution 141-2026 and Ordinance 5815, which together write the protections into the city charter as a new Section 7.11. Council Member Michelle Grau told the room that residents have made it clear public land belongs to the people, and that voters should have the final say. The motion passed four votes to zero.
The protections started as a citizen-led effort to keep city-owned land in public hands. Extending them to CRA property closes a gap, because the CRA holds significant parcels in and around downtown, and a sale or long-term lease of that land would previously not have needed a public vote.
Two more measures on the same topic were introduced for later votes: Ordinance 5814, a code amendment extending the land protections to CRA property, and Ordinance 5813, a construction and demolition debris franchise agreement with Great Waste Service. Neither was voted on Tuesday night.
The council also appointed Council Member Stacy Sipple as its representative to the Metropolitan Planning Organization, filling the seat vacated by Yvette Drucker.